Whale carcasses stranded on Tasmanian beach to be dumped

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Whale carcasses stranded on Tasmanian beach to be dumped

After more than 200 whales were stranded on a remote beach on Tasmania's west coast, authorities have begun the mammoth task of towing the carcasses out to deep water.

Rescuers managed to save a number of pilot whales after 230 were stranded on Wednesday on Ocean Beach near Macquarie Heads.

Now, attention has turned to the disposal of bodies of those that could not be saved.

Unlike a mass stranding two years ago where carcasses were left to decompose on the shore, authorities are towing them into the deeper waters of the Indian Ocean, 40 kilometres off the coast of Strahan.

Whale carcasses are tied to longlines and towed by boats owned and operated by fish farms in the area, and officials hope they will disperse and decompose instead of washing back up on the beach.

The Department of Natural Resources and Environment Tasmania NRE Tas said the majority were removed this morning and the focus would now shift to the remaining carcasses in Macquarie Harbour.

A small number remain on Ocean Beach and will be buried when conditions permit, Incident Controller Brendon Clark said.

Before moving into this part of the operation, we undertook extensive aerial surveillance of the area yesterday, before moving into this part of the operation, Mr Clark said.

During the exercise, we found some live whales in Macquarie Harbour and were able to refloat and release these in deep waters.

Again, I would like to thank the NRE staff, volunteers, salmon companies and the local community for their assistance with this operation. West Coast Mayor Shane Pitt said it was good news that the carcasses had been removed so quickly after the stranding.

The feedback I've been getting back from the public is pretty good, he said.

Everyone is happy with how things turned out in the end, even though it's been pretty dramatic circumstances.

It is very important for tourism - that is what Strahan's main economy is - so it's very important.

Given that it's coming up to a long weekend, and also the school holiday period, a lot of residents on the west coast head down to Macquarie heads so it's really good news that they've been able to remove the dead carcases back out to sea. Several surviving whales that had successfully refloated were stranded in shallower waters within the Macquarie Harbour precinct on Saturday.

The Department of Natural Resources and Environment said crews responded and worked to free the animals throughout the course of the afternoon.

NRE Tas said that it would look at rationalising crew and resources and scale back the operation after the rescue efforts are complete.

Mary Anne Lea, professor of marine polar predator ecology at the Institute of Marine and Antarctic Studies, said dumping the carcasses at sea was a trade-off between human health and recreational use of those areas. Obviously whales are large and they smell and take a long time to decompose, she said.

It's a good thing that it's a resource for other animals in the ocean because it's a good thing to take them out to sea where they can float or sink and decompose naturally. The disposal method is not likely to pose a threat from increased shark activity, according to Kris Carlyon, from the Department of Natural Resources and Environment Tasmania.

He said that that will be a long distance offshore, winds and currents and swell conditions, and that will spread those animals apart quite quickly.

NRE Tas said carcasses may wash up on local beaches over the next few weeks from currents and tidal movements, and urged people to report any sightings to the Whale Hotline on 0427 WHALES.